Bijani Chamber of Deputies election, 1953
The Bijani Chamber of Deputies election of 1953 took place on Saturday, February 21, 1953, to elect the 80 members of the Chamber of Deputies of Bijan. It was triggered by President Veki Hajasi issuing the order for on Monday, February 2, 1953, for early elections, less than eighteen months into the four-year term of the 2nd Chamber of Deputies, which was chosen in the 1951 general election. The election coincided with the formation of the 2nd National Council, the upper house of the National Assembly. Background Seven parties were represented in the 2nd Chamber of Deputies. A further fourteen parties took part in the 1951 election but failed to cross the national threshold of four percent. Like in the 1st Chamber that preceded it, the members of 2nd Chamber never managed to form a firm, stable majority caucus. The Bijani National Party and the Christian Democratic Party, which together held 37 of the 80 seats, managed to form an informal alliance and was the closest thing to a minority governing coalition throughout the life of the 2nd Chamber. Parties Smaller and regional parties, unable to cross the threshold on their own, continued to coalesce into larger, broader parties through mergers and cooperation agreements. Some of the more notable political realignments that took place between the 1951 and 1953 elections are noted below: *The Bijani People's Party, which lost all 6 of its seats in the 1951 election, split over the issue of whether to merge into the Social Demcoratic Party. The majority of its members voted in favor of the merger in July 1952, and the party was deregistered at its own request. A small dissenting group attempted to revive the party, but it was not registered in time for the 1953 election. *The Alliance for Bijan, itself a union of five centrist and Christian democratic parties, and the Moderate Party, voted to unite with the Christian Democratic Party in May 1952. In August 1952, the Christian Demcoratic Party voted to rename itself Bijani Family. Bijan First joined Bijani Family in October 1952. *The Bijani Citizens Movement, Bijan Above All and the Bijani Radical Party united in November 1952 to form a new political party called Rise!. In total, 13 parties contested the election: Districts The same seven electoral districts created for the 1951 election were used again for the 1953 election. Each of the districts was allocated a number of seats in proportion to its population, for a total of 64 district seats. The remaining 16 seats were compensatory or top-up seats, awarded to the parties to ensure the overall composition of the Chamber was proportional to the nationwide vote. To gain representation in the Chamber, a party had to secure at least four percent of the national vote. Results : For the full results of the election, see Bijani Chamber of Deputies election, 1953/Full Results. The Bijani National Party further increased is share of the vote and won 30 seats in the Chamber, five more than at the previous election. The election resulted in the first ever formal coalition established between two parties in Bijan, between the BNP and Bijani Family. Together, the parties held a majority, 41 of the 80 seats, in the Chamber, which allowed the executive to pursue a legislative agenda without interference from opposition parties. The 3rd Chamber of Deputies began its term on March 10, 1953, the day on which the official results were published. The new Chamber convened a week later, on March 17. Category:Bijan